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Gifted Education

Announcements

2017 Parent/Student Nomination Window - September 1- 15

We have moved the date of our annual Fall Nomination Window for parent/student referrals to the Gifted Education Program.
If you are interested, please fill out an application and return it to your school's office before September 15.

Mission

The gifted and talented program was developed to ensure that our students are challenged to achieve their highest potential and that curriculum and learning opportunities are in line with their specific needs, interests and abilities.

Beliefs

District administration, teachers, families, and the community share the responsibility to provide relevant and challenging opportunities to develop the individual potential of advanced learners.

Gifted students have unique strengths and needs that must be addressed.

Gifted ability exists and should be identified and served in students of all ages from all cultures, races, ethnic backgrounds and socioeconomic groups.

Every child deserves a rigorous and challenging curriculum with tiered programming and a continuum of services.

Every child shares the responsibility for maximizing the learning opportunities provided.

Gifted Definition

"Gifted and talented children" means those persons between the ages of four and twenty-one whose abilities, talents, and potential for accomplishment are so exceptional or developmentally advanced that they require special provisions to meet their educational programming needs. Children under five years of age and who are gifted may also be provided with early childhood special educational services.

Gifted students include gifted students with disabilities (i.e. twice-exceptional) and students with exceptional abilities or potential from all socio-economic and ethnic, cultural populations. Gifted students are capable of high performance, exceptional production, or exceptional learning behavior by virtue of any or a combination of these areas of giftedness:
• General or specific intellectual ability.
• Specific academic aptitude.
• Creative or productive thinking.
• Leadership abilities.
• Visual arts, performing arts, musical or psycho-motor abilities.

For more specific information about ECS Gifted Education, please click on the icons below.

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Identification

Eagle County Schools follows established procedures for identifying students as gifted and talented. This is an ongoing process that has three pathways for referral and a collection of a body of evidence (formal and informal data), resulting in the possible identification of a student needing gifted education services. This process is facilitated by the gifted education specialist. Data collected during the identification process guides the programming for each identified student.

Gifted Identification Process

Identification Timeline

Referral Pathways

Screening Pathway(Spanish)
ECS will conduct an ability-screening event in the spring of second and sixth grades. The screening will be conducted using the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test 3 (NNAT3), a non-language based ability test, to identify potential in children without regard to gender, ethnicity, language or race. One further purpose of the screening is to identify students who, for whatever reason, are not demonstrating advanced ability in the classroom setting. Students who score at the 95th percentile or higher in the screening test, or who attain a score in the top 5% of students at his/her school, will go on to a formal to create a body of evidence for possible gifted identification.

Teacher Referral Pathway(Spanish)
ECS uses Response to Instruction to meet the needs of all students in the classroom. Some students need advanced interventions for their needs to be met. These interventions are put into place after teachers review classroom data, consult with the gifted education specialist, and discuss options with parents. In some cases, further intervention is needed and possible formal referral to the gifted education program. When this is the case, in partnership with the gifted education specialist, a teacher completes a formal referral for further gifted testing.

Nomination Pathway(Spanish)
During the second month of each school year, a two-week nomination window will allow families and students to nominate for gifted testing. The district accepts nomination applications from family members and students. Students nominated during the nomination window will have a formal referral to the program resulting in a complete body of evidence collected. The timeline on the identification process will start on the final day of the nomination window.

Body of Evidence

Eagle County Schools collects a body of evidence (BOE) for review and identification into the gifted education program. A body of evidence considers intellectual, academic, and talent areas through use of multiple sources and types of data. It consists of quantitative and qualitative measures to determine if a student meets the criteria for gifted identification and to build a student profile of strengths and interests. Quantitative assessment provides numerical scores or ratings that can be analyzed or quantified. Qualitative assessment provides interpretive and descriptive information about certain attributes, characteristics, behaviors or performances.

Quantitative Measures

Norm-referenced test (e.g., cognitive and achievement)

Criterion-referenced test (e.g., state assessment and curriculum based measures)

Qualitative Measures

Rubric

Performance

Observation

Checklist

Interview

Review Team

Data in the body of evidence (BOE) is examined by a review team to determine if a student meets the criteria for gifted identification. All data is considered, and not meeting the criteria on a single assessment tool does not prevent further data collection or consideration for gifted identification. The Eagle County Schools BOE review team consists of gifted education specialists, a district administrator, and an English Language Learner specialist. The review team provides opportunity for input from all teachers working with the student and as well as from student’s families. The review team examines the body of evidence and may make one or more of the following determinations:

Move to formal gifted identification

Identify student for a talent pool to collect additional data

Determine data does not support identification at this time

Determine a student may need to be referred for special education assessment in addition to his/her gifted identification (twice-exceptional students)

Areas of Identification
A variety of criteria are used to determine an area of gifted identification. Students may be identified in one of the following areas:

Talent Pool

The body of evidence for some students may not lead to formal gifted identification, but data may demonstrate the student should be included in a “talent pool.” A talent pool is a group of students who demonstrate an advanced ability in a particular area, but at this time do not meet the criteria for gifted identification. Students within the talent pool receive appropriate programming options and/or interventions to address areas of strength or potential. As students are presented with additional levels of challenge and rigor, increased achievement may occur. A student may or may not meet the criteria for gifted identification at a later date. Not all students will stay in the talent pool for the same amount of time.

2017 Parent/Student Nomination Packet

Additional Resources

Advanced Learning Plans

Advanced Learning Plans (ALP) are a record of gifted students' strengths that result in programming for each child and is used in educational planning and decision making. The creation of the ALP is led by the building gifted education specialist in conjunction with the student, classroom teacher(s) and parents/guardians and articulates academic and affective goals within the student’s strength areas.

ALP Timeline

Elementary: ALP

Plans are updated at the beginning of the year through goal setting meetings with students, teachers and parents input via a survey. The updated plan is shared with parents during the fall parent-teacher conference or at another scheduled meeting. ALPs are reviewed mid-year and at the end of the year by students and teachers, and the gifted education specialist shares the plans with parents.

Middle School: ALP

Plans are reviewed/updated in the first semester by students in partnership with the secondary gifted education specialist and the strength content area teacher. Parents are asked for input via a survey at this time. The specialist and the students will share the updated ALP with parents in the fall semester. If requested by a parent, teacher, or student, the specialist will set a time to meet and review the plan with all parties in person. Students will review their progress towards their ALP goals throughout the school year with a final reflection at the end of the year. The final reflection will be shared with parents by the secondary gifted education specialist and the students.

High School: ICAP

In eighth grade and with guidance from the secondary gifted education specialist, students develop their advanced academic goals in Naviance, the tool ECS uses for Individual Career and Academic Planning program plans (ICAP). At the beginning of each high school year, the Gifted Education Instructional Coach will reach out to all identified students to review and update goals for their ICAP. The Gifted Education Instructional Coach will contact parents offering support in ways to acces the plans in Naviance. If requested by a parent, teacher, or student, the coach will set a time to meet and review the plan with all parties in person.

Programming

Eagle County Schools believes in tailored instruction for gifted and talented students. Each identified student has an Advanced Learning Plan (ALP). This plan outlines specific programming options to meet individual needs. These programming options could include, but are not limited to the following:

Social-Emotional

Meeting the social-emotional needs of gifted students is imperative to their success. In addition to academic programming, Eagle County Schools gifted students are served through a variety of programs that address their unique social and emotional needs. Options could include but are not limited to:

International Baccalaureate

Multi-age/Competency Learning

Extracurricular Options (May include, but not limited to)

Battle of the Books

Robotics Competitions

Model UN

Science Olympiad

Writing Contests

Art Contests

Response to Instruction (RtI)

In meeting the needs of gifted learners in the classroom, Eagle County Schools follows the Response to Intervention model for gifted programming as described by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). All children receive core curriculum (Tier One) but because advanced learners may pick up this material more quickly or can demonstrate mastery of learning through pre-testing, they may need additional interventions (Tier Two). A few students may need extensive interventions (Tier Three).

Tier One: Eagle County Schools follows a rigorous core curriculum that is aligned to the Colorado Academic Standards and includes competencies that refer to the important ideas or core processes central to a discipline, transfer to new situations, and have lasting value beyond the classroom.

Tier Two: When students learn Tier One (core curriculum) material quickly or already demonstrate mastery of a concept, they may need additional challenge to expand their learning. The first level of intervention is a response to advanced learner needs.

Tier Three: A few students will receive Tier Two enrichment interventions but still demonstrate a need for a faster pace or more complex learning environment. These students may need interventions that may include but are not limited to one or more of the following: Grade-level Acceleration, Single-Subject Acceleration, Independent Study, Internships

Early Access

Early Access is an opportunity for highly gifted four year olds to enter kindergarten one-year early, or for highly gifted five year olds to skip kindergarten and begin first grade. It is not for all children. Parents must make application by April 1st. Students must qualify with a score at or above the 97th percentile on aptitude and achievement tests. They must also demonstrate appropriate maturity through a psychological evaluation and informal observation in the classroom. Information from previous preschool teachers is also considered. Importantly, if a student does not qualify for early access, they may still receive enrichment in the classroom. The district uses a process called Response to Instruction (RTI) to identify students needing enrichment. This can be remedial enrichment or advanced enrichment.

Applications accepted February 10 - April 1

Acceleration

Content-based/ Single-subject Acceleration/ Grade-level Acceleration

ECS recognizes that students acquire grade-level curriculum mastery at varying rates, and some at a rapid pace. A student may need acceleration in their area of mastery. This acceleration can be provided in various ways: grade-level acceleration, single-subject acceleration, curriculum compacting, dual enrollment (DE)*, credit by examination*, or advanced placement (AP)*. *Defer to the process in place at each high school for this type of acceleration.

ECS has three pathways available for initiating an acceleration application. A parent may nominate their child, a student may self-nominate, and an educator may nominate a student by completing the application found on the ECS Gifted Education website and turning it into the principal. Each pathway will initiate a child study meeting to review the application and all available academic data. Initial data should illustrate mastery of grade-level curriculum in the subject area to be skipped.

Students in grade K-8 may be content-based/single-subject or grade-level accelerated if the following conditions are met:
1. Current classroom performance indicates mastery of the material in the current grade level.
2. The student demonstrates mastery of the content by scoring at or above the 90th percentile on a norm-referenced test for the current grade level OR at or above 75th percentile on a norm-referenced test for the grade in which the student wishes to move.
3. The social-emotional development of the student would not be harmed by the acceleration.
4. The parents or guardians and the student desire acceleration.
5. The principal and teacher(s) from the current school agree that acceleration is in the student’s best interest.
6. If the acceleration requires a building change, the receiving school must be included in the process.
Applications for acceleration will be accepted throughout the year, but must be received by the Exceptional Student Services office by May 1st .

Acceleration Appeal Process
If the parent(s)/guardian(s) are not satisfied with the school’s decision not to grant acceleration to their child, they may appeal the decision in the following order:
1. Director of Exceptional Student Services
2. Assistant Superintendent for Learning Services
3. Superintendent of Schools
4. Board of Education

Transferring Gifted Students

Portability & Transfer Students

Portability means that a student’s identification in one or more categories of giftedness transfers to any district in the state of Colorado. Gifted programming must continue according to the receiving district’s programming options. Portability of identification is a part of the student’s permanent record and Advanced Learning Plan.
ECS process for reviewing students transferring into the district:

Family contacts the school's office to notify gifted education department of their child’s identification.

Gifted education department contacts family to ensure receipt of all documents.

Gifted education department reviews all documents and determines next steps according to student’s needs.

The rule for portability does not apply to students moving into Colorado from another state. However, the receiving district will review the student’s records for evidence of giftedness, and then determine whether additional assessment is necessary to confirm if the student meets Colorado criteria for gifted identification.Spanish Translation

Twice-Exceptional Learners

ECS believes twice-exceptional students engage in their learning and demonstrate growth in both their strength and deficit area(s). Through tailored strength-based programming and support, ECS students who are twice exceptional develop social emotional skills such as, self-advocacy, perseverance, and managing relationships and grow within their strength and deficit area(s). The ALP for twice-exceptional learners focuses on strength-based programming. Gifted education specialists attend the Individual Education Plan (IEP) meetings or 504 plan meetings to ensure the strengths of the student are considered in all areas of the student’s programming plan. ECS has a Twice Exceptional Task force focusing on articulating clear identification procedures and communications, defining a continuum of services and providing professional development to multiple stakeholders.

Educators

ECS has four standard modules covering characteristics of giftedness, our identification process, advanced learning plans and strategies to use in the classroom. As a team of gifted education specialists we would be happy to present any or all of these modules at faculty meetings, PLC or team meetings to develop your teachers' understanding of who gifted learners are and what they need to be successful. Please contact the Director of Gifted & Talented Education or the gifted specialist in your building to help you meet the needs of your exceptional students.

2017-2018 Parents Series

Gifted and Talented Advisory Committee

The Gifted and Talented Advisory Council (GTAC) is a group of dedicated parents, teachers and administrators passionate about gifted education in Eagle County Schools. The mission of the council is to ensure that children with exceptional abilities receive an appropriate education. GTAC meets during the year to discuss ways to build our gifted community. If you are interested, please fill out the application and return it to Jennifer Martinez, Director of Gifted & Talented Education.ApplicationGTAC BylawsGTAC Updates

A fundamental mission of the International Gifted Education Teacher-Development Network (IGET-Network) is to bring world-wide best practices in the gifted education field of study and practice, to countries where gifted education is not incorporated into school governance policies.

SENG is dedicated to fostering environments in which gifted adults and children, in all their diversity, understand and accept themselves and are understood, valued, nurtured, and supported by their families, schools, workplaces and communities.

The Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving academically gifted and talented youth. As a world leader in gifted and talented education, Duke TIP works with students, their families, and educators to identify, recognize, challenge, engage, and help students reach their highest potential.

Center for Talent Development (CTD) at Northwestern University exists to serve the gifted community and ensure that gifted students receive the education, encouragement and support they need to learn and grow into confident and accomplished adults whose love for learning grows stronger each year.

The Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development (B-BC) is a comprehensive center focused on nurturing potential and inspiring excellence through myriad programs and services.

The purpose of the Center for the Education and Study of Gifted, Talented, Creative Learners at the University of Northern Colorado is to support and promote all aspects of gifted and talented education.